Changing Covid-19 testing rules forces Chinese groom to watch his wedding on a live stream outside the ceremony venue
- The restaurant changed how soon the guests had to take a PCR test to be allowed to participate
- It meant that the groom and about 20 guests were stuck outside the wedding until their same-day Covid-19 tests came back negative
Part of getting married in China during the Covid-19 pandemic is ensuring all bureaucratic boxes are ticked for the big day.
“As a result of that changing requirement, my test was out-of-date, so I went to the nearest hospital and took another test.”
His friend took a viral video on Douyin with a caption that read “A first in Xinjiang: a groom watched his wedding ceremony through live video”.
According to Deng, in addition to himself, about 20 guests were barred from entering the building.
Because the tests took some time to turn around, Deng had no choice but to wait outside the wedding.
“I was about to cry sitting outside, so my friends started to film a video to ease the atmosphere and make me laugh,” Deng said.
Despite Deng’s predicament, the bride, surnamed Li, and the family had decided to proceed with the ceremony.
“When I learned that Deng could not enter the restaurant, my first thought was to postpone the wedding, but then I realised that our parents and all of the guests had arrived and it would not be appropriate to cancel it,” the bride said.
When Deng finally walked into the ceremony hall at 4:43pm after receiving a negative result, the couple invited all guests to return, and the marriage traditions resumed at 6pm in the presence of family and friends.
“It was, in the end, a beautiful wedding,” Deng said. “And thanks to the fuss, we got blessings sent by people across the country.”
Many people were amused by the couple’s unique experience under the pandemic.
“The man could never have imagined that he would be watching his wedding live,” one person said.
“You should do a nucleic acid test before your next wedding, bro!” another joked.
The incident highlights how strict China’s Covid-19 prevention measures have become as the country tries to neuter a growing outbreak driven by the Omicron variant.
According to National Health Committee data, the most recent Covid-19 positive case in Xinjiang was reported on April 4, after which there have been no newly reported cases.
